Hi Web-surfing Cathedralites,
Thank you all for taking the mickey out of me. I am six feet and two inches tall, weigh a hundred kilos and have very broad shoulders - and can take quite a lot of flak. Yes (true confessions), I had to dress up as a washerwoman and also as one of the ladies-in-waiting of the princess, and sing in my soprano voice. (We were not co-educational in those days!) That, however, was not the embarrasing part of the story as many of you seemed to infer!
Well the laugh is on you. Because I was in the Cathedral Church Choir, which meant twice a week singing practice - late on Wednesday and Friday evenings and two church services to attend on Sunday - morning and evening, and a whole lot of christenings (baptisms), weddings and funerals to sing at), I did not have to pay the school fees. I think it was the grand sum of Rs.15 per month.
Some of the people even paid us money to sing at those events - usually half an rupee - great amount of money in those days. It was enough to have a hearty meal of chicken curry and rice at the Pyrkes Restaurant at Flora Fountain, at Olympic Restaurant in Colaba Causeway or a scruptious meal at the railway restaurant in Bombay Central, though not enough to have a chicken burger in a small restaurant almost at the end of Veer Nariman Road where it meets Marine Drive (think it was called Skyways) which used to be our regular hangout - that used it cost 12 annas. The was usually some pies left over for the Charminars - I picked up all my bad habits while singing in the church choir, or maybe it was an attempt to destroy my voice to get out of the drudgery.
As far as I can remember there were no school fees even for my elder brother and my younger sister, a family savng of about Rs. 50 at least - so I always tell them that I got them educated through our alma mater by my endeavours! I wonder whether this traditional link between the church and the school continues even now?
I must tell you about our French teacher, Mr. Ribi. He was a true-life Frenchman who had an MG sports car. He lived on the top floor above the flat of the Principal. I think you got to it by going up the stairs at the back of the then Standard X on the second floor (where they used to do the annual medical examination where we all had to strip and be examined by a lady doctor who always insisted that we all had to be circumsised!)
Mr. Ribi was a real monster. If we did not pronounce a French word correctly he would blow his head off in a rage and if at the second attempt we failed to satisfy his morbidity, he would screw our ears. Painful experience which in today's world would probably be called child molestation. Now you can understand all my psychological traumas which come through this page! Luckily he left after a couple of years so I did not have to suffer him till the XIth.
Wonder often where he got too? Any clues anyone?
Well we did have several foreign teachers in our day and I will tell you about some of them in the coming issues and also some of the real local character teachers which we had.
By the way, I know you are all enjoying these reminiscences, but I think some of you should start to take control and manage this page. I am a little old and weary and would like to give the reins to a younger and more dynamic editor so that Ican concentrate on the main page - Findians Briefings -which is shocking and rocking the world with its hard hitting style. So if someone would like to slowly take over Seventh Heaven, you are welcome, and you will always have one devoted reader - me!! May I, however, echo 57er Kashinath Dandekar, my senior by 2 years who wrote in the latest issue of the Cathedral Newslatter:
"Let us keep the language parliamentary, it may be a little sterile but it might be more acceptable. Perhaps I am beginning to feel OLD."
Well, next week I am going to tell you about the "Pharoah" of Cathedral School and I am sure Kashinath and Bhupi, and Bala, will not feel quite sooooo old!
Regards
Jacob Matthan
Savage House Captain 59
Oulu, Finland
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